The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014, December 05, 2012, Image 13

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    WWW . THESKANNER . COM
D ECEMBER 5, 2012
S EATTLE , W ASHINGTON
V OLUME XXXV, N O . 9
25
CENTS
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C HALLENGING P EOPLE TO S HAPE A B ETTER F UTURE N OW
ZULU JAM 2012
Aryan
Nations
Return?
Racist says white
supremacists building
new base in Idaho
PHOTO BY SUSAN FRIED
By Nicholas K. Geranios
The Associated Press
Dance, spoken word and more were featured at Zulu Jam: Hip Hop History Month Edition sponsored by 206 Zulu &
Seattle City Breakers, Nov. 30 at Washington Hall. The event honored the legacy of talented Northwest Hip Hop artists
like Emerald Street Boys, Seattle City Breakers, Nastymix Records and countless others who began to make their mark
30 years ago.
Pot Backers Go Public After Win
TV host Rick Steves talks on how the legalization battle was fought
By Gene Johnson
The Associated Press
SEATTLE (AP) — In the
late-1980s heyday of the anti-
drug ``Just Say No” campaign, a
man calling himself ``Jerry”
appeared on a Seattle talk radio
show to criticize U.S. marijuana
laws.
An esteemed businessman, he
hid his identity because he did-
n’t want to offend customers
who — like so many in those
days — viewed marijuana as a
villain in the ever-raging ``war
on drugs.”
Now, a quarter century later,
``Jerry” is one of the main
forces behind Washington
state’s successful initiative to
legalize pot for adults over 21.
And he no longer fears putting
his name to the cause: He’s Rick
Steves, the travel guru known
for his popular guidebooks.
``It’s amazing where we’ve
come,” says Steves of the legal-
ization measures Washington
and Colorado voters approved
last month. ``It’s almost coun-
terculture to oppose us.”
INDEX
News .....................2,4,5
Calendar ....................2
Opinion .......................3
Bids/Classifieds.........6,7
A once-unfathomable notion,
the lawful possession and pri-
vate use of pot, becomes an
American reality this week
when this state’s law goes into
effect. Thursday is ``Legaliza-
tion Day” here, with a tote-your-
own-ounce
celebration
scheduled beneath Seattle’s
Space Needle _ a nod to the
measure allowing adults to pos-
sess up to an ounce of pot. Col-
orado’s law is set to take effect
by Jan. 5.
How did we get here? From
``say no” to ``yes” votes in not
one but two states?
The answer goes beyond soci-
ety’s evolving views, and grow-
ing acceptance, of marijuana as
a drug of choice.
In Washington _ and, advo-
cates hope, coming soon to a
state near you _ there was a
well-funded
and
cleverly
orchestrated campaign that took
advantage of deep-pocketed
backers, a tweaked pro-pot mes-
sage and improbable big-name
supporters.
Good timing and a growing
See POT on page 3
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — A disciple of
former Aryan Nations leader Richard Butler
wants to build a new compound in northern
Idaho to act as a gathering place for white
supremacists, a development that troubles
human rights groups who spent decades bat-
tling Butler and his group.
Shaun Winkler, who unsuccessfully ran
for sheriff of Bonner County earlier this
year, said a supporter is donating 8 acres
near the town of Priest River, Idaho, that he
hopes to develop into a place for white
supremacists to conduct meetings, cross
burnings and other activities.
``I’m just one guy that wants to bring peo-
ple together to continue the struggle for
white survival,” Winkler, 33, told The Asso-
ciated Press this week.
Butler’s high-profile Aryan Nations activ-
ity tainted northern Idaho’s image national-
ly, and local civil rights groups were wary of
a potential new hub for racist activity.
``Our work has to go on to promote equal-
ity and justice and fairness,” said Tony
Stewart, a leader of the Kootenai County
Task Force on Human Relations. Human
rights groups, including the Southern Pover-
ty Law Center, at this point are just raising
awareness. There are no active efforts to try
to thwart Winkler.
The task force and the Southern Poverty
Law Center combined to push a civil law-
suit that bankrupted the Aryan Nations in
2000, leading to the sale of the original
compound. Butler died in 2004.
Winkler declined to identify his benefac-
tor, other than to say he was a former Los
Angeles police officer who had supported
Winkler’s bid for sheriff. Aryan Nations was
structured as a church of the white suprema-
cist Christian Identity religion, and Winkler
said the new compound will include a
church hall for services and places for sup-
porters to live.
See ARYAN on page 3
Retired Postmaster’s Experiment Shows
Legitimate businesses will never demand money in exchange for a
By Tony Lystra
The Daily News
CASTLE ROCK, Wash. (AP) — In
early November, Dwight Giffin, a retired
Castle Rock postmaster, conducted an
experiment: He agreed to be a sucker for a
scam.
He had recently received an ``Express
Notice” from the ``Financial Acquisition
Agency,” which suggested he had won
exactly $2,536,092.23. The letter, which
included the illegible signature of the FAA’s
``director (of) Winner Notification,” asked
that Giffin initial the ``Express Notice
Tracking Form” and mail the form to a post
office box in Miami, Fla., to collect his
prize.
On a lark, Giffin filled out the form and
enclosed a $20 bill, as requested, then
mailed the form off. He wasn’t shocked that
his $2.5 million never showed up. What did
surprise him, though, was the deluge of mail
that came from scammers trying to get more
money out of him.
``They evidently thought, `Here’s a suck-
er!’ you know?” said Giffin, who is 76 and
still lives in Castle Rock with his wife,
See SCAM on page 3